STREET ARTIST PLANTS A COKE-SNORTING OSCAR STATUE IN HOLLYWOOD

A life-size statue of Hollywood’s real golden boy Oscar, bent down on his hands and knees huffing lines of cocaine, was installed Thursday morning. The guerrilla art piece, dubbed “Hollywood’s Best Party,” is the velvet-roped handiwork of Los Angeles street artist Plastic Jesus. It was installed at the intersection of Hollywood Blvd and La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles (next to Elvis Presley’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star, no less) and was timed to appear just prior to the big Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday.

The Tumblr for Plastic Jesus states he is “inspired by world news events, society, the urban environment, culture and politics,” and that his “work combines humour, irony, criticism and unique opinion to create art that engages on many levels.”

This particular piece is a statement on drug abuse and addiction in Hollywood. On Twitter, the artist points to a Los Angeles Times article about the (apparent) fatal drug overdose of Parks and Recreation producer Harris Wittels:

Looking closely at the piece, it appears that the artist gave Oscar use of his custom black “American Excess” credit card to cut his lines of blow.

Of course, the real blow here is that the piece has already been removed. Huffington Post reports that the art was up for just a few short hours before it was ordered out by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. The Plastic Jesus team quickly disassembled the golden partier and got him out of there before authorities could. If you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of the art in real life, according to an interview with the artist in Huffington Post, he’s planning to be place it outside of Urban Outfitters (at Melrose and Stanley) on Saturday.